Reduce to lowest terms: $- \dfrac{5}{4} \div - \dfrac{3}{4} = {?}$
Dividing by a fraction is the same as multiplying by the reciprocal of the fraction. The reciprocal of $- \dfrac{3}{4}$ is $- \dfrac{4}{3}$ Therefore: $ - \dfrac{5}{4} \div - \dfrac{3}{4} = - \dfrac{5}{4} \times - \dfrac{4}{3} $ $ \phantom{- \dfrac{5}{4} \times - \dfrac{4}{3}} = \dfrac{-5 \times -4}{4 \times 3} $ $ \phantom{- \dfrac{5}{4} \times - \dfrac{4}{3}} = \dfrac{20}{12} $ The numerator and denominator have a common divisor of $4$, so we can simplify: $ \dfrac{20}{12} = \dfrac{20 \div 4}{12 \div 4} = \dfrac{5}{3} $